


of petty impatience and silver crowns

by Smiley5494



Series: of kings and magic, Merlin and Arthur [4]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Attempt at Humor, Background Relationships, Day 6, Day 6: “Can I uncover my eyes yet?” “No stop being impatient" + Humour, Fluff and Humor, Humor, M/M, Merthur Week 2020, Minor Gwen/Morgana (Merlin), Spoiler Alert - Freeform, but merlin gets a crown!!!!, im not good at it but i tried, merlin gets a crown!!!, okay maybe it's mentioned once, this isn't mentioned but its important to me that you know this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:08:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28332876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smiley5494/pseuds/Smiley5494
Summary: Day 6: “Can I uncover my eyes yet?” “No stop being impatient" + Humour“Sounds perfect, Gwen,” Arthur said brightly, “I’m sure it will be beautiful.”“And Merlin would hate the idea,” Morgana pointed out.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: of kings and magic, Merlin and Arthur [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2069175
Comments: 8
Kudos: 89
Collections: Merthur Week 2020





	of petty impatience and silver crowns

Now that Arthur had married Merlin, people expected them to rule side by side. Part of that meant that people expected Merlin to also have a crown. When they saw that they didn’t, they stared and whispered, even to the point where _Arthur_ was aware of the issue without being told.

It was Gwen who proposed the solution. She, Elyan and their father would make Merlin a crown, one of their own design, and Arthur could give it to him. It would stop the rumours, and have the added bonus of making the foreign rulers and visitors instantly sure of who was Arthur’s partner. It would help if they stopped assuming it was whatever woman was nearest to him. Morgana and Gwen were sick of pointing to Merlin, and Morgana, in particular, had just started to go around showing off Gwen all the while introducing her as _my wife, Guinevere_.

Merlin having a crown would help school even the most stubborn into finally coming around to the idea.

“Sounds perfect, Gwen,” Arthur said brightly, “I’m sure it will be beautiful.”

“And Merlin would hate the idea,” Morgana pointed out. “He hates the spotlight, but he’ll love the crown itself.”

Gwen grinned, she kissed Morgana lightly on the cheek and ran off to find enough metal for a whole crown. Arthur watched her go, and knew that she and her family would do their absolute best and the crown would end up far more beautiful than Arthur’s—he tried his best not to feel jealous at that simple truth.

* * *

Merlin was suspicious.

Arthur, Morgana and Gwen had been meeting in secret and they refused to tell Merlin what it was about. To make matters worse it seemed that everyone Merlin spoke to knew more than he did.

Even his _parents_ knew more when they stopped in for a surprise visit. When Merlin begged for information his mother just laughed and his father patted him on his shoulder and told him everything would be alright.

Morgana, despite not having the power to do so, ordered new clothes for him. Including an incredible array of hats. Merlin told her, quite seriously, that the hats would never be worn and it would be better for everyone involved if she didn’t make him get any.

Merlin walking in on one of those meetings and came face to face with Arthur and Gwen pouring over several designs for crowns.

“What are you doing there?” Merlin asked, and watched as Arthur flung the apples on the table to the side and slammed the bowl down over the papers.

“Nothing!” Gwen squeaked in reply, and Arthur looked anywhere but Merlin.

“Sure,” Merlin allowed them this terrible lie and left the two to their decision making.

* * *

Hiding what they were doing from Merlin was harder than they thought it would be.

He’d walked in on them finalising design ideas more than once, and Arthur was well aware of Merlin’s paranoid, suspicious nature. They’d failed in keeping the crown a secret from the entirety of Camelot, and it was a miracle no one had caved when Merlin begged them for answers.

Arthur was praying for Gwen and her family to finish it as quickly as they could—Merlin wasn’t going to stay oblivious to their efforts for much longer. Finally, _finally_ , Gwen presented him with the final product and Arthur sat in awe of its beauty.

It was time to present the final product to Merlin.

* * *

“Can I uncover my eyes yet?” Merlin asked, petulant and impatient.

“No, stop being impatient, Merlin,” Arthur replied as he gestured the servant forward. Gwen had done a beautiful job, the crown was made from silver with small amounts of gold woven throughout, and it was designed to look like leaves and vines twisting around the head—a perfect crown for the king of magic.

Merlin waited—despite what Arthur had said, Merlin was anything but impatient—until Arthur decided that it was time.

“Alright,” he said, “you can open your eyes now.”

Merlin did, and his eyes went wide, his expression one of startled surprise. It looked almost comical, Arthur mused, Merlin, looking between Arthur and the crown and back again, before settling on the idea that this was _Merlin’s_ crown.

 _“Oh!”_ He breathed, “Oh, it’s beautiful, did Gwen, Tom, and Elyan make it?”

Arthur nodded and gestured for him to try it on. As expected, the crown fit perfectly, and Merlin looked even more ethereal. He was a god among men, and Arthur loved him for it. The crown accented all the fae-like beauty Merlin possessed, and Arthur knew that if Merlin offered him food and drink, Arthur would give himself and his name freely and willingly.


End file.
